Warmth and Hope
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: When Zeref was a little boy, he was hurt and alone. But when he grew up, he met her, and she gave him warmth and hope. My first Fairy Tail oneshot.


**Fairy Tail Oneshot**

**Warmth and Hope**

**Romance/Friendship**

**Zeref/Mavis**

**When Zeref was a child, he was cold and alone. But when he grew up, he met her, and she gave him warmth and hope. Zervis.**

**(Be honest. Do I LOOK Hiro Mashima?!)**

* * *

Warmth and Hope

* * *

Zeref.

That was his name.

His infamous name.

The name of one of the most powerful wizards of his time, as well as the most deadly.

If only people looked beyond the name and its reputation. They'd notice the boy locked deep within.

* * *

He limped through the dense forests just outside of Magnolia. His shoulder had been mauled by a vicious dog. His chest was bleeding profusely from a knife wound that he'd taken by the dog's owner.

He was hated by all.

And he understood why.

Nobody liked the smell of death that so constantly surrounded him. He couldn't blame them though. He didn't like the scent either. To be perfectly honest, he wanted to fulfill their desire of his death. He wanted to let them kill him.

But he couldn't.

He was cursed to be forever alone. It had been like that since he was a child.

However, despite his immortality, that did not mean he was invincible. The blood all over his body was all the evidence he needed to support that.

A wave of pain passed through him and he fell against a tree, his breathing becoming heavier and possibly weaker. He was barely able to open his dark eyes and look to the sky. Even the sun had left him to wallow in his pain.

His eyes finally closed and his head lolled to the side, his skin becoming a sickly pale as his blood continued to spill from his wounds.

* * *

(Dream scape.)

He could see his past. He could see his smaller self racing away from the stones that people threw at him. His black shirt and pants were hanging limply on his tiny frame, and an expression of terror was burned into his face.

"Stay away from us, Demon!" the crowd shouted.

Zeref winced. 'Demon.' A spawn of evil. He knew that's what they truly meant when they called him that. They had called him evil incarnate. A monster that was not worthy of existence.

Only worthy of hate.

"Never come back!" they shouted. "Just stay away, Demon!"

Zeref only looked back once. But once he did, he never looked back again. The faces they wore – cold and hateful – they were too much for his young mind to bear. He could only cry as his own people forced him out.

The first and only time he'd ever cried.

After that, he couldn't bring himself to cry again.

Just like demon.

* * *

(Present)

Warm light. He could feel it pouring over his once cold body. Why? What was happening to him? Had his immortality finally been lifted? Was he finally permitted to die?

"Hey, are you gonna wake up?"

His dark eyes fluttered open. Before him stood an angel. An angel with long flowing golden hair and bright green, cheery eyes. Small pink wings adorned her hair and she was wearing a frilly dress.

After a brief silence, the 'angel' bent forward and looked him in the eyes. "Are you alive, Mr. Black?"

Okay, maybe not an 'angel.' More like a little girl.

Zeref had no other desire than to move away from her. He could feel the warmth radiating off over her like a sun. It was too much for his cold, demonic self. Though his strength was still fading, he was fully capable of turning his head to the side. "Leave me alone," he said. "I simply wish to be left alone."

"Really?" the girl asked. "You're bleeding really badly. I think you should come to my guild. We can help you."

"Guild...?" Zeref repeated slowly.

His vision began to go blurry. His consciousness was fleeting.

"_Not good,_" he thought slowly. "_I can't...be around...people. I don't...want...to be around humans._"

He could think no further. His eyes closed shortly after.

* * *

That warm light again.

"Are you still alive, Mr. Black?"

That voice again.

Zeref opened his eyes and found himself resting in a small room. That same girl was standing before him, her eyes as bright as before. "So, are you feeling better?" she asked.

"Who...are you...?" Zeref breathed, finding it slightly difficult to do even that.

"Just the one who saved your life," the girl responded, placing a wet cloth on his head. "Welcome to our guild."

Instantly, Zeref's eyes widened and he shot up as quickly as he could. Then he doubled over, the pain in his shoulder and chest tripling in potency.

"You shouldn't do that!" the girl snapped. "Your wounds haven't closed."

"I need no medicine," Zeref said. "What I do need is to be as far away from you and your guild as possible."

He was about to push himself off the bed when the girl took hold of his hand. While she had clearly put no effort into keeping him on the bed, for some reason, that worked better than anything else he'd ever felt. He slowly turned to face her and noticed the tears welling up in her eyes. "Why?" he asked. "Why are you so determined to keep me here? I am...a demon. If I stay here, you, your guild members and this entire guild shall fall."

The girl quickly shook her head. "I don't believe you're a demon," she said. "It feels...more like you're just lonely."

Zeref's eyes widened at this. Him? Lonely?

Maybe he was. But what could he do about it?

As if to answer, the young girl took his hand again, only this time, put a little more of her strength into it. "Please stay," she said. "At least until your wounds heal."

He looked down to the shoulder that the dog had bitten. She bandaged it?

"You are a very unusual girl," he said. "What is...what is your name?"

"Me?" the girl asked, pointing to her face. "Mavis. Mavis Vermillion. What about you?"

Zeref twitched. But then he shrugged and replied with, "I am called Zeref."

Mavis looked as if she was about to cast him out. But then she blinked and said, "That sounds like a nice name."

Zeref froze when she said that. No human had ever paid him a compliment such as that before. (Or any compliment in general)

Mavis, noticing his expression, took his cold hand into her own and said, "In this guild, who you were in the past doesn't really matter. All that does matter is what you do in the future. Zeref-san...welcome to Fairy Tail."

That succeeded in bringing a smile to Zeref's face.

The first after many years of hatred. The first of many around her.

And the first hint of a brighter future.

With her. And Fairy Tail.

* * *

**D.T.B: Okay, not as romancy as I wanted it to be, but hey. It's my first Fairy Tail fanfiction, so you know. Please leave a review. Zervis and Jerza are my favorite pairings in Fairy Tail. I'd like to know how I write one of them.**


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